High-Bounty Commission

A familiar feeling comforted Belorell, and he felt at peace. They stopped in front of a tent inside the chapel. Fiona, dressed in a robe, unloaded the items from the carriage one by one, and in return, Belorell helped.

"Where did Tarenna and that Dwarf go?"

The Elf boy looked back. In this wide-open space, all sorts of people were busy at work. But the Blood Elf Paladin and the Dwarf Paladin were nowhere to be seen.

"They have their own work to do." Fiona carefully placed a crate on the ground, then stepped out of the tent to take the second crate from Belorell's hands. "Is this your first time in the Eastern Plaguelands?"

"I've been here once," the boy answered without hesitation. This piqued Fiona's curiosity. Just as the woman was about to press further, she noticed that Belorell was already frozen in place, his gaze completely captivated by a Draenei Thunder Elephant.

Belorell had never seen such a creature before. Its muscular body exuded an elegance and sophistication that seemed incongruous with its size. Its head and limbs were covered in armor, and it occasionally let out low growls.

"What were you doing here last time?"

The boy barely heard Fiona; his attention was completely drawn to the enormous creature in the distance. To Belorell, it seemed capable of crushing an adult into a pulp with a single movement.

"That's Thunder Elephant," Fiona explained, "The mount of the Draenei."

"Thunder Elephant," Belorell repeated.

"Yes." Fiona clapped her hands after arranging the last box of things. "Its strength is equivalent to three horses, but its appetite is another story."

Belorell glanced at the blue-skinned strange man feeding the Thunder Elephant beside it; that must be the Draenei Fiona had mentioned. She was absolutely right, but even including the food left in the trough, the Thunder Elephant had eaten far more than three horses would need.

"Is everything ready?" Tarenna suddenly appeared behind Fiona. Belorell noticed that he was carrying a heavy cloth bag in his hand and a longsword engraved with runes on his back.

"Of course, easy peasy," Fiona replied. "And you guys? Did you get your bounties?"

As the Blood Elf Paladin spoke, he shook the bag. "Jidwen took a few coins; he went to the tavern."

"You should keep an eye on him," Fiona said, frowning. "Otherwise, he'll probably cause trouble again when he's drunk."

Tarenna shook his head. "No, he went to get a new mission."

Jidwen had been standing in front of the notice board for half an hour. There weren't any worthwhile missions left at this point. He started to complain that Fiona's carriage was too slow; the good missions—the ones with high bounties—were all snatched up by others. The Dwarf unconsciously began to stand on tiptoe.

"I'm glad you didn't drink while you were standing here, otherwise things would have been much worse."

Upon hearing Tarenna's mocking voice, Jidwen retorted angrily, "You still have the mood to joke? There are no good cases left on the bulletin board."

"He means he's glad you didn't tear off the top one, otherwise we would have lost another deposit," Fiona said, extending a hand to the Dwarf, who reluctantly placed a few silver coins on it.

Because of their conversation, Belorell naturally looked up at the top of the bulletin board. The boy rubbed his eyes, thinking he had misread the reward on the commission, and counted it several times.

"A thousand gold coins!"

"Why is this brat still here?" Jidwen finally noticed the young Elf behind Fiona.

"Of course he can come with us. This is Argent Crusade territory, and everyone is free to move around."

The Dwarf muttered something, then his eyes darted around before he grinned at Belorell. "Kid, do you know what's written on that request?"

Of human languages, Belorell only recognizes some of them; "I can only tell that they refer to a place."

"Yes, that place is haunted. Anyone who trespasses disappears." Jidwen's ghost-tale-like narration and comical expressions left Belorell unsure how to respond. His friends, Fiona and Tarenna, also felt extremely awkward.

"Enough, Jidwen. Is this something Paladin should say?"

"Paladin only tell the truth, and I'm telling the truth. Marius Farm is haunted, everyone says so."

"What? What did you say?" Belorell suddenly grabbed Jidwen, contrary to his usual behavior, and asked hurriedly.

"What are you doing, brat? Let go of me!" Jidwen instinctively grabbed Belorell's hand, ready to pull hard, but was surprised to find that the Elf was much stronger than he had imagined. "You little brat, you look so frail, but you're quite strong."

"Alavi, what are you doing?" Fiona tried to stop them, but she saw a fanaticism gleaming in the boy's eyes.

"What did you just say?" Belorell brought her face close to Jidwen's, a move that startled the Dwarf.

"I'm telling the truth..."

"Not this sentence, it's the one before... you said that place is where?"

"Marius Farm".

Jidwen fell to the ground with a thud, letting out a cry of "Ouch!"

The name struck Belorell like a thunderbolt.

All you need to remember is that the place is called Marius Farm, and that your mother went there. If it's actually feasible... you can tell other people what you saw.

Chromie's words echoed in his ears, as if the Gnome was right beside him, reminding him. Marius Farm, a place his mother had once visited... Belorell suddenly remembered something, hurriedly taking out a map his mother had kept from his backpack, pointing to the coordinates on it and asking, "Is this it?"

Fiona looked over, and the Dwarf and Tarenna also came over. The three of them nodded almost at the same time.

"Yes, is this really the place?"

"Even if I'm drunk, I won't mistake this place."

In an instant, a chilling sensation settled on the boy's palm, as if he were holding the arrow tightly in his hand.

"I want to go!"

"What?"

"I didn't hear you clearly, could you say it again?"

Only Fiona remained calm, while the Dwarf and Blood Elf looked at Belorell with strange eyes.

"I'm going to Marius Farm," he said again.

At this point, Jidwen couldn't hold back any longer. He rolled up his sleeves, ready to teach this arrogant brat a lesson. Fiona stopped him in time.

"Enough! Conflicts are prohibited inside the chapel."